Dr. Chip Rogers
chip.rogers@mga.edu
www.chipspage.com

Office: Arts and Letters (SoAL) 239
Telephone: (478) 471-5765
Office hours: MW 12:30-2:30; TR 11:00-1:00
   and by appointment

The MGA Catalog describes PFWR 4660 Advanced Professional Writing as "build[ing] upon the foundation in professional writing established in PRWR 3160. Students develop and refine effective rhetorical techniques in a wide diversity of genres and rhetorical situations, including substantial formal reports and proposals, grant writing, technical documentation, and in an array of web-based and other digital genres. The course also engages students in advanced project management and organizational communication strategies." PFWR 4660 emphasizes independent, project-based collaborative work with teammates.

Students will:

• create visually and rhetorically appealing documents in advanced professional genres such as long formal proposals and reports, grant proposals, procedure manuals, and functional websites;
  
• write clearly and concisely, with grammar, diction, and style appropriate to various rhetorical situations;
• compose and re-purpose documents for use in print and digital formats;
• work collaboratively and devise models of project management and organizational communication strategies.

Technical Communication, by John M. Lannon and Laura J. Gurak, 16th edition Pearson eText, Pearson, 2025, ISBN 978-0-13-827486-3

Threaded discussions: This component of your grade is determined primarily by the frequency and quality of your contributions to the threaded discussions focusing on assigned readings. Threaded discussions must be posted prior to the deadline to receive credit, and you should engage in discussions early and late in each unit.

It is essential that you read all posts by your classmates (and me) each unit. Threaded discussions approximate open discussion in a face-to-face class, and just as students in traditional classrooms cannot typically offer their contributions and then leave the classroom without benefiting from what others say in discussion, you should avoid simply sharing your posts with little attention to others' contributions. Students who post only on the last day of any unit will receive no higher grade for that unit's discussion than a B; students who fail to read at least 75% of classmates' postings each unit will receive no higher grade than C. Post and read others' posts at least two or three days each week.

Reflective writings: informal explorations of your thoughts and experiences with different aspects of professional writing as the course progresses.

Individual projects: generally brief writing assignments in a variety of genres, implementing principles emphasized in the readings.

Collaborative projects: relatively small-scale documents generated through teamwork with your classmates. Project grades are uniform for all team members.

The major project: This is the heart of the course—largely independent, student-managed production of genuinely "real-world" deliverables in a project of moderate length and complexity. Topics may vary across teams, but they generally involve collaborative planning, communications, workplace research, and the creation of multiple documents ranging from internal planning materials to broader, client- or public-facing documents of significant scope. We will develop topic options in the first third of the semester, and the bulk of the work will occupy the second half of the semester.

Course policies

Plagiarism: Except for assignments expressly calling for collaborative effort, all written work must be entirely your own. Any unacknowledged borrowing from the writings of others will be considered plagiarism, a serious breach of academic integrity. I submit cases of plagiarism or other academic dishonesty for review by the Student Conduct Officer. The penalty for plagiarism in this class is an "F" for the entire course, not just the assignment in question. 

Note that the Department of English's more specific definition of plagiarism is operative in this class:

1. It is plagiarism to copy another’s words directly and present them as your own without quotation marks and direct indication of whose words you are copying. All significant phrases, clauses, and passages copied from another source require quotation marks and proper acknowledgment, down to the page number(s) of printed texts.

2. It is plagiarism to paraphrase another writer’s work by altering some words but communicating the same essential point(s) made by the original author without proper acknowledgment. Though quotation marks are not needed with paraphrasing, you must still acknowledge the original source directly.

3. Plagiarism includes presenting someone else’s ideas or factual discoveries as your own. If you follow another person’s general outline or approach to a topic, presenting another’s original thinking or specific conclusions as your own, you must cite the source even if your work is in your own words entirely.  When you present another’s statistics, definitions, or statements of fact in your own work, you must also cite the source.

4. Plagiarism includes allowing someone else to prepare work that you present as your own.

Note: "Someone else preparing your work" includes essay-writing services and generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as Chat-GPT, MS Copilot, Google Gemini, or any "writing assistance" programs such as Grammarly, paraphrasing tools, translation programs, etc. All work in this class must be your own except where properly cited or disclosed. The use of artificial intelligence writing tools or generative AI tools is prohibited at any stage of the work process, including discussion posts, informal critical responses, midterm and final exams, and the formal paper. Stay far, far away from generative AI! If you have questions about specific online writing tools, talk with me before submitting any work that may include writing assistance you are not entirely certain about.

5. Plagiarism applies in other media besides traditional written texts, including, but not limited to, oral presentations, graphs, charts, diagrams, artwork, video and audio compositions, and other electronic media such as web pages, PowerPoint presentations, and postings to online discussions.

For more on plagiarism, follow the "On Plagiarism" link on my website.  

Withdrawal Policies: Students are encouraged to read the withdrawal policy found at https://www.mga.edu/registrar/registration/drop-add.php before dropping/withdrawing from the class. Students may withdraw from the course and earn a grade of “W” up to and including the midterm date (Wednesday, March 12th for full-session spring 2025 classes). After midterm, students who withdraw will receive a grade of “WF.” A WF is calculated in the GPA as an “F.” Instructors may assign “W” grades for students with excessive absences (beyond the number of absences permitted by the instructor’s stated attendance policy). Students may withdraw from a maximum of five courses throughout their enrollment at Middle Georgia State. Beyond the five-course limit, withdrawals result in “F” grades. 

Class Behavior Expectations and Consequences for Violations: Middle Georgia State University students are responsible for reading, understanding, and abiding by the MGA Student Code of Conduct. Student Code of Conduct, Responsibilities, Procedures, and Rights are found at  
https://www.mga.edu/student-conduct/index.php.

MGA Policy on Disability Accommodations: Students seeking academic accommodations for a special need must contact the Middle Georgia State University Office of Disability Services in Macon at (478) 471-2985 or in Cochran at (478) 934-3023. See https://www.mga.edu/accessibility-services/

“Technical Policy” (re: plagiarism detection): a plagiarism prevention service is used in evaluation of written work submitted for this course. As directed by the instructor, students are expected to submit or have their assignments submitted through the service in order to meet requirements for this course. The papers may be retained by the service for the sole purpose of checking for plagiarized content in future student submissions.

HB 280 Campus Carry Legislation: https://www.mga.edu/police/campus-carry.aspx.

End of Course Evaluations: Student evaluations of faculty are administered online at the end of each term/session for all courses with five or more students. Students will receive an email containing a link to a survey for each course in which they are enrolled. All responses are anonymous.

Keeping up with grades: Track grades periodically in Brightspace (D2L). Let me know if you have concerns about your class average or grades on specific assignments before you consider withdrawing from the course.

The extra mile—doing your best: Tutoring, in person and online, is available in the Writing Center and in Student Success Centers (SSC) on all campuses. The Macon campus Writing Center is in TEB 226 and the SSC is housed in the Library.

For subjects tutored and appointments, visit the SSC website at http://www.mga.edu/student-success-center/. On the Macon campus or fully online, you can book tutoring sessions at mga.mywconline.com/. The SSC website also posts tutoring schedules for other centers across the five campuses, including the Writing Center (in Macon, TEB 226: 478-471-3542). All tutoring centers across the five campuses are free of charge. Other services at the SSC include online academic workshops and a robust website with resources for academic assistance. The centers also have computer workstations, free printing, and Internet access.

The Bottom Line: I hope every member of this class gets an A, and I will do all I can to make this happen. Don't get me wrong—the standards for "A" work are high. The number-one key to succeeding in this class is that you take responsibility for your own success, meaning that you attend to all assignments with careful, earnest diligence, that you respond positively to any setbacks and heed my feedback on all assignments, and that you seek my help as much and as often as you need it. I guarantee you have one of the most accessible professors at MGA: ask for help outside of class, and I'll do my level best to deliver. 

Syllabus addendum:

     PFWR 4660 schedule of readings and assignments.